I am Tom Sexton an International Certified Addiction Counselor (ICADC) and a professional interventionist for over 45 years. Vernon Johnson, the creator of the intervention process developed a unique and effective style of techniques that are highly successful in getting chemically dependent individuals to enter a treatment program. I was trained by Vernon Johnson and his staff at the Johnson Institute: the Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital, and Bowling Green Inn.

The primary purpose of an intervention is to educate and train the family and friends on how to effectively prepare themselves to confront their loved ones Delusional Memory and Defense Systems and, to have them accept their request to enter a treatment program on the day of the intervention. It is not the group’s goal to convince their loved one that they are an addict or to treat their disease. Instead, the intervention will be a moment of crisis that he/she will experience as a moment of truth, a discrete event on their road to healing and recovery. I have not met anyone in my 47 year career doing interventions who did not want to get well.

Each group member will prepare a personal letter to read to their loved one which will give them a panoramic and progressive overview of the ways that they have been functioning while under the influence of chemicals. Your letters will be factual, caring, loving and respectful and will be read in a firm and confident manner. Anger, bitterness or confusion has no place in an intervention.

The person requesting to do an intervention will gather those individuals who are close to the chemically dependent individual, i.e., parents, children, spouse, friends, coworkers, employer, clergy, physicians, therapists, and neighbors. The intervention training sessions are a specialized educational process designed to give everyone a clearer understanding about chemical dependency, codependency and how treatment, counseling and 12 Steps programs will influence and enhance everyone’s treatment and recovery.

There are two three hour training sessions: the first session is educational with time for discussion and sharing by each group member and instructions about how to organize your letters and a video about chemical dependency: in the second session we will read, rehearse and practice your letter and then watch a 30 minute video on an Intervention from the Johnson Institute. We will then be prepared to set the time, date, and place for the Intervention and select a treatment center and have the insurance coverage verified.

Insurance policies do not cover the cost for intervention training. My fee is $100 an hour for the training and a $500 deposit to begin the intervention process. If long distances or overnight stay occur there will be additional costs. I will be with you throughout the entire intervention process and at the treatment facility to see that the admission process is completed successfully. There will be a post intervention meeting shortly after the completion of the intervention.